28 August 2013

Now highly collected, beautiful Japanese Boro,which basically means rags or scraps of cloth, were made out of necessity not design. It was the need to stay warm and the patience to repair that created these lovely fabrics that we now consider an art form.

These fabrics were precious, they were made from the hemp or flax that people had planted, harvested, spun and dyed themselves. Therefore when clothing and bedding needed to be repaired, patches of other fabrics were stitched over worn areas with tiny 'sashiko' stitches to secure them in place.

For the poor of Japan up to the early part of the 20c, clothing had to be maintained throughout the wearers life. Boro was born of the value of 'mottainai' an ancient Buddhist term from Japan that means to have respect for the resources around you, to not waste resources and to use them with a sense of gratitude.

Each boro is by it's definition totally unique, it is the value of time spent, not money.all photos - google search

26 August 2013

23 August 2013

The inimitable voice of Sid James takes us on a tour of London's street markets in 1959. Petticoat lane, Berwick Street, Farringdon Road and Portobello Road. What's interesting is there's a shot of the horse racing tipster Ras Prince Monolulu who I wrote about in the post -Derby dayshouting his cry; 'I've got a horse'.

1 August 2013

It feels like the hottest day of the year today. As you come out of the door it's like that blast of hot air when you step out of the plane, not the wet heat of some countries but that dry heat, as though you've walked into an oven.I said out loud 'feeling hot hot hot' and laughed, because it took me back to a holiday travelling in Mexico where the little guy looking after us asked how I was feeling and I found myself replying "feeling hot hot hot" to which he burst out laughing. You see the whole time we were there they played the same two tunes over and over; 'Feeling hot hot hot' by The Merrymen and 'Going loco down in Acapulco' by The Four Tops, both big hits then.

Funny what you remember... so in memory of that, it's two for the price of one today.

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HELLO...

hej med jer, welcome to the woolly dog... friendly with a slightly dark sense of humour, a bit like me really, hopefully you will find something here you like, a photograph, video, painting, mood board of beautiful colours, music, or a tale from the village.